Slave Master
by Thyra
Summary: A vicious evil is unleashed; leading to corruption, destruction and loss of innocence. Sonic and company are forced into a new and twisted world of darkness and suffering that they had not known before. [woohoo! i suck at summaries! R/R appreciated]
1. Disclaimer

Disclaimer & Warnings

Lookit! A big fancy Disclaimer! And it has a title! *points at Disclaimer title* Amazing! 

Right. Being serious. Or half serious. 

This is my big story. Slave Master. I want it to be good, and I have it planned out. Its going to be **long**. Long as in, over 15 chapters long. Long as in, mini novel [or not so mini o.O] length-ish. Anyways.. I don't want to be posting disclaimers all over the place, so this is the disclaimer for the entire story [although there may be notes along the way]! 

Sonikku-tachi [Knuckles, Rouge, Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Eggman, Amy Rose, whomever else I missed and will add later *blink*] and related 'things' [for lack of better wording .] are completely copyright to SEGA and Sonic Team and their respectable owners. Not mine. None of them. I'm just borrowing them to write my story *cheeky grin* 

All other characters, however, are mine! The villain is mine, and I invented him *points to sketchbook* along with all the other 'new faces' in this fic. If for some reason someone thinks I copied them on any of these characters, I'm **extremely** sorry, but I didn't. LoL, I didn't [and don't] go surfing the Net just to steal other's characters.. I'm not like that, so you can't hold that against me! *bright smile* 

Now a warning, so nobody can say I didn't try to warn you. There will be **yaoi** and **shounen-ai** in this fic between **main characters** and **including main characters**. As in, male/male pairings and relationships [ie. they're gay]. Yes I'm a twisted person, I know that, and I'm quite proud, thank-you-very-much! *cheeky grin* So don't bother flaming me, because I've heard it all before. Therefore I will laugh heartily at your flames, and promptly delete them. Yay! However feel welcome to give constructive criticism if you feel it neccesary. 

This fic is rated 'R' for rape & sexual content, yaoi/shounen ai, torture, blood & guts, language, corruption, etc. Pretty much the whole nine yards; so if you are bothered by that sort of thing please don't read this fic. 

Also be aware of the fact that this fic is set quite a few years later on. Think ages 17-23[ish] in character ages, so everyone will be quite.. different, to say the least. Just warning ya! 

I also apologize ahead of time for any stupid typos in the story o.! 

I think that wraps it up! 

Happy reading! 

//_thyra_


	2. Prologue

_Prologue_

_--_

"EGGMAN!!" 

The explosion was huge, quaking the earth beneath everyone's feet. Many flung themselves to the ground covering their heads, and a chorus of screaming and vulgar language rattled what would have been a peaceful night. 

The smoke curled into the starry heavens, and jade eyes goggled wide as a small shower of crimson and gore danced gruesomely to the terrain. A loud crash ensued with an explosion as the collosal machine fell to the ground, which caused the earth to rock beneath everyone's feet again. A jaw was slack, green eyes staring at the section of air Eggman had just been suspended in just moments before. 

"SONIC!" 

The hedgehog was jolted from his shock as his named was yelled and he wheeled, coming out of his stupor. He ducked as a body went flying over head and leaped away from his spot, which erupted into flames as another machine came thundering to the earth where he had been standing seconds before. He was forced to wrench his shoulder back and out of the way to stop from being impaled by a claw, and grabbing the flailing wrist he punched full heartedly the stomach of his attacker with his eyes wild and a growl leaping from his throat. All around him were the snarls of battle, screeches of pain, the clang of metal and machines, chains rattling, whips cracking and the pungent smell of blood. It invaded the hero's senses, and he bristled viciously as he pummelled the wolf that had attacked him. However the canine grabbed him by the neck and threw him away, knocking him into the tattered earth and tumbling into a dead body. Blood leaking from his lip, he looked up to see a scarlet stained dagger lodged in the carcass of a dead animal, and snagging it he rolled just in time to miss being skewered with a saber. With an incoherent yell he thrust the dagger upwards and into the neck of his foe, twisting as it gargled and fell in a lifeless heap to the earth. But the action didn't stop there, because Sonic had to leap to his feet and dart from his spot as a thick chain came towards him. 

"FUCKER!" 

The baritone of Knuckles the Echidna. Sonic spun again, and ducked once more as the chain came whipping at his head again. However the attack wasn't intentional, the hedgehog saw, as it was being brought over its owner's shoulder and at a red figure. The dreadlocked echidna lifted a hand, and the chain came down on large metal spikes connected to his glove. His violet eyes were flaming up at his opponent and there was a standoff for a fleeting moment before the chain was yanked back, pulling Knuckles into his foe. As Sonic was leaping forward to help his comrade, an orange blur came plummeting from the sky in a whir of fur and tails and landed on the chain-weilding anthro's head, putting extra weight on his shoulders and causing him to crumple. There were yells and screams and the two took down the large figure, but then Sonic couldn't seen anymore as a curved sword came down towards him. 

The blue hedgehog let loose a war cry and a series of dodges at sonic speed as the flashing, blood stained metal swung at him. A quick power up and the blue speed demon let loose a Spin Dash into his attacker's legs, rewarded with a loud crack and a scream of pain as he fell. Suddenly his ears snapped back at the swish of moving cloth and the song of iron through the air. 

"WATCH IT!" 

And he leaned sideways as some kind of weapon came flying towards him, missing him by inches. Behind him there was a screech of pain, and turning he set eyes on Rouge the Bat, whose wing had been impaled by what looked like a 6 inch dagger. But she didn't have time to take it out, because a crocodile was snapping at her neck and she had to jump back out of the way. The last thing Sonic saw of that fight was a tall cheetah leaping over the crowd and bringing a thin sword down through the top of the reptile's head, because then a large metal pipe nailed him in the stomach, winding him and sending him falling backwards. The hero rolled to his feet as quickly as he could, to find - not a pipe - but a serated blade aimed down at him. He yelled something unintelligable and threw himself onto his side, the blade cutting deep into the earth beside him as if it were butter. He saw the blade wrench back and over the shoulder of his foe, and as he rolled to his feet a black creature leaped between him and the cascading metal. 

Sonic cried out as he saw the metal fall through the air again, and the black hedgehog who had come to his aid leaned out of the way, although not quickly enough. The end of the serated edge sliced him through the side of his face and caused a shower of blood and a snarl of pain. Shadow the Hedgehog grabbed the blade in his left hand, cutting it in the process, and vaulted forward, grabbing the attacker by the neck. Sonic took this chance to leap forward and knock the blade away, but then a loud crack was heard as he saw his black and red lookalike snap the neck of the orange hedgehog who had attacked him. Scarlet eyes lifted from the now limp carcass to meet those of emerald, half blinded by thick red liquid. He gave a sort of half smile that appeared grotesque through the blood, then leaped away again. Sonic turned at the same time, leaping into the air and curling to fire a homing attack into the back of a whip-weilding ferret with acid green eyes. 

Yet as he connected with the rodent, who went down immediately, something hit his arm and his hand went to fly and hold it as blood seemed to leap from his body. There was a loud whirring sound from somewhere behind him, and as he turned to look he was thrown back to the ground by a blinding light and an explosion so loud he at first thought it defeaned him. That was, until more blood curdling shrieks cut into his head, quickly followed by a booming voice that yelled out across the battle field. 

"FALL BACK! RETREAT! RETREAT!" 

Sonic was on his feet faster then he had ever been before as his ears cocked towards the voice, recognizing it as someone from his side of the battle as his eyes snapped around. Everywhere he heard echoes of the command of a retreat, and saw as Freedom Fighters started to leak away from the battle stumbling, running, crying out and helping comrades up to get away. Sonic didn't return just as quickly though and instead bolted through the crowd in the opposite direction, screaming out the retreat. But even he was forced to fall back quickly form the onslaught of what seemed like a fresh new wave of attackers, and he wheeled and darted from the oncoming mob. As he weaved he saw his two-tailed fox friend bolt by, a white and blue figure over his shoulders which - surprisingly - didn't seem to slow him down at all. Far over to his right, Knuckles was leaping over a two-dead-body pile up and catching the wind as he glided over the heads of retreating fighters. Repeats of the fall back were still being called out, and as he ran, the hero could see why it was called. Scattered were the dead bodies of acquantainces and farmiliar faces. There were corpses of people Sonic didn't know, although he had known they were on the side of freedom he was fighting for. It was apparent that they had been losing, their numbers much smaller then what they were when they had just entered the battle - and still behind him he could hear the crowd of enemies swelling in number. But Sonic could not stop and look, and he had to hope that all of his friends had gotten out of the battle alive, because at that moment he could only run for one life - his own. 


	3. Plague: Chapter One

**Book One: _Plague_**   
Chapter One

  
Loud music with a throbbing beat flooded the cave, shrieks of laughter and joking erupting randomly and mixing into the gigantic room. Everyone was either seated and drinking or on the dance floor, their bodies pulsing with the beat of the music. Multicolored strobe lights were flashing, reflecting off the crystal in the wall and on the bodies of the Freedom Fighters. There was not one face that was not smiling in the enclosed area, and for good reason. They had just defeated the local slave master, the head of a group that had been wrecking destruction near the Mystic Ruins. They had finally taken over the head owner, and the rest of minor owners had scattered. 

Of course, this was only a small victory in the big picture of things. The slave masters were everywhere now. Since two years ago when they had invaded, flooding like night over the land and taken over. It had been so swift that there was barely a chance to retaliate. There had been short and gruesome battles, that finally lead up to the begginning of a small war. Blood and gore and death. They had lost this largest battle, along with many lives: Proffesor Eggman's life included. Eggman and the Freedom Fighters, along with many other creatures, had actually teamed up when Earth was invaded. The invaders were an evil like nothing they had ever faced before, and they knew that if they did not band together then everything would be lost. And at one point they thought that it all _had_ been lost, when they had lost that small war. 

But then, when they were in hiding, they were approached by a rabbit that was broken and bloody and bound with cuffs of silver. It was a slave that had come from the war, and had somehow survived without his master finding him. Sonic and his friends rushed to his aid, this brown slaverabbit, and tried to coax him back to health. But the attempt was in vain, as the rabbit did eventually die of bloodloss. Before he died, though, he turned to Sonic with misted eyes and gasping breath, and told him that they were all like angels, kind and fighting for what was right. That was when it all changed, and the Freedom Fighters came back full force, splitting into groups that turned into swarms to fight what was going to be a long war. These swarms split and scattered about the earth, setting up underground posts where they hid and fought against the slave masters. They each took names, and in memory of the slaverabbit, Sonic's team was known as The Tenshi, whom now resided beneath the earth at the Mystic Ruins. 

And so, they kept fighting. 

But now they took a minor break from the horrors of war, and let loose to party. 

"Oh for.." Tails laughed loudly, shoving his friend in the shoulder. 

His friend gave a little sway, laughing almost hysterically. He was an almost completely white male fox with blue points and an extremely fluffy tail. He had black sunglasses on the top of his head and was wearing a leather jacket, and his pale blue eyes were tearing up from laughter. "No! I'm serious! You should have seen them! I swear if they didn't leave Shadow would have eaten him up right there on the dance floor!" He gasped out, unable to stop laughing, and his drink was spilling onto the table. Tails nearly fell off of his chair from laughing so hard. 

"That really is not something we all would have needed to see!" The orange kitsune cracked up again, his own cobalt eyes watery from so much laughing. Xander was gasping for breath, one hand on his chest, his sunglasses askew behind his large fringe. Tails managed to calm his laughter to a frequent giggle and Xander let loose a long sigh, signalling he was done with his hysterical laughter. He too, however, continued to chuckle. He took a swig of his drink as Tails grinned at him. 

"You know, Sonic and Shads always tend to leave these dances early. Sometimes I wonder if we should ban them from the dance floor, they get too happy." His face split into a huge grin, and Xander started off again so badly that he knocked his drink all over the table. At this point Tails started laughing loudly again as the white kitsune got a coke and rum mix all down his front and on his hands. He yelped and leaped to his feet, still laughing, and tripped backwards over his chair, landing on his rear, his tail flipping over his head. Nearby a group of girls had saw this and proceeded to squeal with laughter. 

"Smooth, X! Very smooth!" A dark blue mouse with purple hair shouted at them over the music, laughing as she turned back to her pink fox friend. Tails waved at them, still laughing before helping Xander up. 

Suddenly Knuckles, clad in black leather pants, went running by shouting and laughing and waving around what looked like a frilly magenta peice of fabric. A wave of laughter followed him as Rouge came bolting directly after. Xander's jaw dropped and he stared, then erupted into a fit of laughter and pointed. "HE'S GOT HER PANTIES!!" 

The girls nearby shrieked with laughter, the blue mouse doubled over and holding her pink fox friend's shoulder. Tails exploded into laughter as he saw Rouge tackle Knuckles to the ground, wrestling him for her underwear. There was a lot more laughing and staring and pointing as more people came over to watch, and finally Rouge came up holding what turned out to be her side-tying-thong. Hopping to her feet she stuck her tongue out at Knuckles, whom was still on the floor with his hands behind his head and giving her a suggestive look. Rouge laughed and turned, flicking her tail at him then bolting back to the dance floor. Knuckles grinned and rolled to his feet, then waved off everyone. 

"All right kiddies! Show's over!" More laughing as the circle dispersed and Knuckles moved over to Xander and Tails, tugging gently on the peircing Tails' had in his left ear "Having fun you two?" 

They both nodded, grinning, and Xander gave Knuckles an incredulous look. "How the hell did you get her panties!?" 

The red echidna cracked his knuckles and linked his fingers behind his head, winking. "Talent!" He then saw Rouge over Tails' shoulder, and the foxes turned around to see her waving him over, grinning in a seducive manner and batting her eyelashes at him. Knuckles cocked his head and looked at the two foxes sideways, giving a cheeky grin. "If you'll excuse me.." And he took off, grabbing Rouge around the waist when he got to her and pulling her close. The two proceeded to bump and grind on the dance floor to the beat of the music, and Xander rolled his eyes as Tails laughed and turned back to the white and blue fox. 

Suddenly the music changed to a slow, heavily pulsing beat and Tails' ears cocked forward as he jumped up. "Tainted Love! I love this song!" And he grabbed Xander's hand. The white fox gave an excited grin and darted to the dance floor, dragging Tails with him. When they reached it Tails turned and pulled Xander into him, pressing his body against his. Xander cocked his head down and looked at Tails through half lidded eyes - and Tails gave a half-smirk, cocking an eyebrow. The white fox gave a laugh, draping one arm over his counterpart's shoulder and stradling one of his brown-leather-clad leg as they started dancing. 

About halfway through the song, somehow with the crowd throbbing the dancing foxes ended up near Rouge and Knuckles. Knuckles had his hands on Rouge's hips and was slumped a bit, and there was absolutely no space between them at all with her practically being on top of him. The bat caught the orange fox's eye, and with a laugh made mute by the loud song, made Knuckles look. When he looked up he gave them a fakely scolding look, and waggled his eye ridges at them. Laughing, Tails waved him off and Xander flipped him off playfully. Knuckles returned the gesture, grinning, and turned his attention back to Rouge. 

Tails and Xander ended up staying on the dance floor for a few more dances before leaving and heading to the bar to get drinks. The orange vulpine's tails were waving behind him as he started to drink his beverage - although then the two kitsunes turned the drinking into a chugging fight to see who could finish faster. They tied, and laughing with drink down their fronts, Miles suddenly whipped his tails forward and pulled Xander in close, claiming his lips tenderly with his own. When they broke Xander grinned and tugged his boyfriend's ear as the music changed again. "Lets go dance some more!" 

Tails cocked his head and listened to the beginning of the music, then grinned, "All right lets go!" Xander's face split into a delieghted smile and he dragged the other fox back to the dance floor. - 

A few hours later the pair left the riot, which was still going strong and probably wouldn't end until daybreak, and headed for their rooms. Turning down a corridor, they came to Xander's room, and he opened the door - then paused. Turning he looked at Tails, tilting his head curiously. Tails smiled at him and pulled him into his body, nuzzling his neck. The white kit purred and held the orange fox close, closing his eyes. When Tails pulled back he smiled tiredly and stroked the white fringe from Xander's eyes. The blue-pointed fox yawned. They were both exhausted. Tails looked wearily down the hall, his room was pretty far from there. Xander cuddled into him and nuzzled his shoulder: 

"You can stay here for the rest of the night if you want." He yawned again and Tails nuzzled the top of his head. 

"I think I will." He replied, also yawning as Xander pulled away to lead him into the room. Miles shut the door with his tails as Xander flung himself onto the bed, then followed suit and fell onto the bed. Xander rolled over and snuggled into him, and the two were asleep before they even realized it. 

~~~~ 

  
Yay! New chappie! Small disclaimer:  
Tainted Love - Marilyn Manson  
  
Also no flames on the shounen-ai, I warned you already about that. R/R is appreciated!  
  
Oh and incase anyone missed it for some odd reason, this is two years after the prologue. 


	4. Plague: Chapter Two

**Book One: _Plague_**   
Chapter Two   


Tails stirred in his sleep, his muscles twitching which caused his fur to ripple. He went to roll over, and stopped after hardly moving a fraction of an inch, feeling another body pressed against his. He paused for a moment, then his lips curled into a gentle smile and he slowly let his eyes drift open. They were met by another pair of crystal sapphire eyes gazing at him lovingly. Miles smiled. 

"Good morning, koibito." He purred, stroking Xander's fringe from his eyes. The blue point closed his eyes and cuddled closer to the other fox. 

"Its probably not morning anymore.." He giggled, and Tails chuckled. 

"You're probably right." 

Xander looked up, grinning. "I'm always right." He stated boldly, and nipped the two-tailed kitsune's nose before starting to roll away. Tails stopped him and planted a kiss on his lips before letting him get up. Xander stretched as he got off the bed, then turned around to look down at the vulpine still on the bed whom was laying on his side, one hand propping up his head and the other draped over his hip. Xander smiled. 

"Did you sleep well?" He asked in a gentle tone, letting his gaze linger on Tails before he took off his leather jacket. He had slept in it last night, as he had been far too tired to fight with it to get it off. Tails watched him, a tender smile curving his mouth. 

"I always sleep well when I'm with you." He replied, dropping the hand beneath his head to let it fall onto his shoulder, nevering looking away from the white one. Xander was squirming into a pair of grey sweatpants, and was pulling the draw string tight as he glanced lovingly at Tails, blushing a bit. 

"Flatterer." 

"Its only the truth." 

The orange fox rolled over and got off the other side of the bed, moving to the mirror. He squinted at himself and raked his fringe with his gloveless fingers, then gave a shudder. 

"Eugh.. Scary stuff." 

"Nah.." Xander walked up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and snuggling against him. "You always look good." 

"Oh now whose flattering?" Tails laughed, turning around and slipping his arms beneath Xander's, forcing the blue point's arms to his shoulders. He nuzzled his cheek. 

"Its only the truth." Xander grinned cheekily before brushing his lips against his counterpart's. He cuddled into his chest, and Tails let loose a long sigh, stroking Xander's head fur and holding him close. 

"We should go eat." Xander spoke after a few moments, his eyes closed. 

"Mm.." Tails' only response, and it took them another few minutes before they let go of each other long enough to leave the room. 

Tails laced his fingers through Xander's as they walked down the corridor to the Mess Hall. The two goofed around a bit as they walked down the hallway, including some joking and hip checking into the walls of the corridors. At one point Tails grabbed his boyfriend around the waist and swung him around to his other side, and Xander whacked him upside the head with his fluffy tail. They were chuckling mildly as they reached the end of the hall they were walking down, stopping at the end at the hark of a masculine voice from the corridor to their right. They both looked down to see a smiling Sonic walking towards them, his hands in the pockets of his baggy black slacks and a bit of a spring in his step. Xander cocked an eyebrow at the hedgehog. 

"Well somebody got laid." He muttered to Tails, who snorted with laughter. Sonic's eyeridges lifted as he closed in on them. 

"I won't ask." He smirked. 

"Good idea!" Xander grinned at him before looking at Tails, "I'mma go see whose up." He said, giving him a peck on the cheek. Tails nodded, squeezing his hand before letting it go as the blue point moved off into the Mess Hall. Sonic had been watching them quietly, a mildly amused look on his face. Tails blinked at him. 

"What?" 

Sonic chuckled. "Oh, nothing." 

Tails rolled his eyes, "Ah huh, sure." And the hedghog just grinned. 

"How was the party?" 

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't know since you left so early.. I take it you had a good time last night then?" Tails arched a brow at his best friend, gesturing at how Sonic was rocking on the balls of his feet. 

"Of course." He said a bit smugly, and dodged a swipe from Tails, whom was laughing. 

"It was fun! You missed some funny stuff. Did you hear about Red's little trick with the underwear?" 

Sonic lifted his eyeridges in curiousity. Tails laughed. 

"He stole Rouge's thong she was wearing somehow and went running all over the Hall with it!" 

Sonic simply shook his head and chuckled, "How am I not surprised? He's always pulling stunts like that. Thats good though, we need some comic releif." 

There was a brief moments pause as the two got a minor hit of the fact that they were still in a war, but it passed when Tails spoke up. 

"You know, I honestly have no idea how you and Shad can go for so long. I mean, you left REALLY early last night! Thats really.. Not right.." 

The cobalt hedgehog laughed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and putting on a thoughtful look. "Well he _is_ the ultimate life form.." His face split into a mischevious grin and Tails let loose a cry waving his hands and closing his eyes tight. 

"Nyaah I don't wanna know!" 

"What?" Sonic put on a fakely innocent face, and Tails shot him 'the look'. His friend only grinned. "Well _you_ obviously didn't get any." He continued, and the kitsune shook his head with a chuckle, 

"We don't do _that_ Sonic." 

Sonic chuckled, "You two are cute, you know?"dropping both hands back to his pockets. Tails scratched his nose, flushing a bit. 

"Yeah, well.." 

"Tails!" 

Sonic and Tails looked around to the Mess Hall to see Xander waving him over. "You coming, koi?" 

Tails' face lit up, then another lower masculine voice gave a greeting from directly behind him, causing him to jump about a foot and grab his chest. He whirled around to face the owner of the voice, and was met with a ruby red gaze. There was a long scar on the left side of his face that went from his ear to his jawline. 

"Shadow, you scared the shit out of me!" Tails' eyes were wide, and Xander was cracking up at the doorway to the Mess Hall. Sonic's focus was glued on the red and black hedgehog, glimmering lovingly. 

"Sorry," Shadow smirked, ruffling the fur between his ears. 

"Tails come on!" Xander gasped between his laughs, beckoning him. Tails smiled at him. 

"Justa second!" He turned and socked Shadow in the shoulder, hard, then darted off after the blue point before the hedgehog would retaliate. The two foxes dissapeared into the Mess Hall. Shadow shook his head, chuckling. Sonic was snickering, and was rewarded with a sideways look from the black and red male. 

"He's vicious, that fox." Shadow said in a rather blunt tone, laced in amusement, which brought more sniggers from the hero. 

"Thats Tails for you." 

Shadow frowned, "He used to be such a cute little guy." Sonic moved over to him, slipping his arms around his waist and leaning his head on his shoulder. 

"Well we've all changed Shadow," He sounded almost tired. 

"I know.." He wrapped an arm around his look-a-like's shoulders, looking thoughtful, then turned his gaze down to him, smiling. Sonic only smiled back at him as they walked into the Mess Hall. Immediately the large cave erupted into cheers, the hundreds of anthros seated along long wooden tables whooping as the two hedgehogs entered. Almost everyone was looking at them, calling and clapping and whistling. Shadow grinned and laughed as Sonic gave a huge fluffy bow to everyone, twirling his hands and dipping his head. After a moment the cheering died down and everyone resumed talking and laughing, and the two hedgehogs walked down one of the tables to sit down with Tails, Xander, Knuckles and Rouge. Rouge was sitting on Knuckles' lap and feeding him grapes. She was leaned in close to him and popping them into his mouth one by one. Shadow smirked and sat down beside Tails, and Sonic sat next to him. He rolled his eyes at the bat and the echidna, and threw a blueberry from a basket on the table at them. Knuckles looked around, then threw the blueberrie back. 

"Shouldn't play with your food!" He grinned, and Sonic rolled his eyes. 

"You're one to talk!" He replied, gesturing at the grapes Rouge was holding. She batted her eyelashes playfully. Shadow shook his head, smiling lightly. Tails laughed as Xander looked up, and the white fox had syrup all over his snout from wolfing down strawberry pancakes. The others looked over at him, and he blinked innocently. 

"What?" 

They laughed and Tails licked his nose. His lips split into a large smile. 

"Blueberry syrup?" 

"Its blueberry?" Sonic's ears pricked as he leaned over the table to look at Xander, and when he nodded the blue hedgehog grabbed some pancakes. Shadow laughed and passed the syrup down to him once Tails handed it to him, and the blue hedgehog promptly drowned his breakfast in the sugary substance. Now everyone was watching him, and just before he started eating he looked at them all. 

"Well are you gonna eat or just stare at me?" 

Shadow laughed and looked down the table for a bowl. "Hey Rouge pass me that bowl." He pointed, and Rouge turned from feeding Knuckles to pass him the bowl, which he started filling with cereal. 

"Hey Knux," Xander spoke, licking syrup off his fingers, "Don't you ever get sick of those things?" He pointed at the grapes. "You eat them all the time." 

"Hey," Knuckles gave him a serious look and leaned against the table. He had one arm around Rouge, but the other he propped on the table and pointed a finger at the blue point fox. "Grapes have a very high kink factor you know." 

Tails rolled his eyes as Xander giggled, "Only you would think so." 

"No no, I agree!" Rouge grinned. Sonic looked up from his pancacke and syrup soup. 

"Thats because you two are odd." He said around a mouthful of food. Knuckles winked and Shadow poked his cheek. 

"Don't talk with your mouth full, itoshii." 

Sonic swallowed and gave the black hedgehog an innocent grin. 

"So that was some mighty quick thinking, ne?" Knuckles' voice. He was still leaning against the table, and Rouge was popping the grapes into her own mouth now, looking across the table at the foxes and hedgehogs. 

"What was?" Sonic. 

"With the last battle," Rouge replied, "Tails and his diversion." 

Tails looked up, he had been licking syrup off Xander's snout. Xander also looked, and his face lit up. Shadow looked around at Tails, smiling. 

"Yeah it was. Its a good thing you got them off Sonic and I." 

"Yeah, thanks bud!" Sonic winked over at him, grinning as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and licking the syrup off of it. 

"You know they're getting stronger." Shadow said in a quiet tone. Everyone else went silent as he said this. Xander dropped his eyes to his plate as Tails looked over at Shadow. Knuckles looked between the four of them, and Rouge chewed her grape very slowly. 

"Yeah, we're going to have to be more careful." Sonic looked at everyone. "They're training their slaves harder now." 

"Its disgusting." Xander said bitterly, staring at his plate. 

"Yeah.." Tails nodded, and so did everyone else, although mutely. 

"We'll beat them one day." Knuckles said confidently, breaking the silence that had hung for a long moment and dropping his hand on the table. "With the other Freedom Fighters and ourselves, there is no way they can win." 

Tails nodded, and Shadow kind of gave a half-smile. Xander looked up, the faintest of smiles on his lips. They all knew that they had over a thousand Tenshi, and there were other groups of fighters just like them scattered all over the country. 

"You're right. We'll beat them!" 

Suddenly a blue mouse went bolting by, chased by a white cat and a pink fox. They were squealing and laughing, and as the mouse and cat took off, the fox stopped for a moment to wave at them. "Tails! Xander! Come one, we're going above ground!" She giggled and took off again. The two other kitsune's had watched them run by, and looking back Tails grinned. 

"We'll meet up with you guys later!" 

Xander leaped to his feet and took off after the three, Tails on his heels. Knuckles looked after them with a thoughtful expression. 

"Ahh.. I remember when I was young.." He started off, and Rouge whacked him. 

"No you don't!" 

"Yeah, you're right.." 

Sonic laughed and shook his head as Shadow stretched and stood up aswell. "I think I'm going to go up, too." 

Sonic looked up, licking syrup off his fingers. He smiled, "We should all go up." He looked across the table and Knuckles and Rouge, and they both smiled aswell, nodding. As they stood and started for the door, somebody suddenly cried out "FOOD FIGHT!" And they had to duck a salad flying across the room. Knuckles let loose a whoop and jumped up on the table, picking up a sandwhich and hurling it across the room. Rouge laughed and hid under her wings from the fight. 

"Well at least they can still have fun!" Sonic shouted over the loud laughing and partying as he and Shadow darted out of the hall, ducking under flying food. 


End file.
